A new term raises hope for progress

President Barack Obama receives the oath of office from Chief Justice John Roberts; now, may leaders of both parties join the president to act on the nation's pressing issues.

President Barack Obama receives the oath of office from Chief Justice John Roberts; now, may leaders of both parties join the president to act on the nation's pressing issues.

Photo: Carolyn Kaster, Associated Press

Photo: Carolyn Kaster, Associated Press

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President Barack Obama receives the oath of office from Chief Justice John Roberts; now, may leaders of both parties join the president to act on the nation's pressing issues.

President Barack Obama receives the oath of office from Chief Justice John Roberts; now, may leaders of both parties join the president to act on the nation's pressing issues.

Photo: Carolyn Kaster, Associated Press

A new term raises hope for progress

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A pageant of democracy was on display Monday in Washington. In November, the people spoke by casting votes for a chief executive. Yesterday, for the 57th, the nation celebrated the peaceful continuation of executive power — a power that derives from the people.

President Barack Obama paid homage to this democratic tradition in his inaugural address with a series of references to “we the people.” The nation faces great challenges from a turbulent world and from climate change. It faces domestic challenges from the need to address a growing national debt and to create a more rational, more humane immigration policy. Together, he suggested, the American people can meet these challenges.

If the president’s rhetoric was sweeping, it was also pragmatic. “Being true to our founding documents does not require us to agree on every contour of life,” he said. “It does not mean we will all define liberty in exactly the same way, or follow the same precise path to happiness. Progress does not compel us to settle centuries-long debates about the role of government for all time — but it does require us to act in our time.”

In no realm is this requirement to act more urgent than in dealing with the debt issue. President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner came agonizingly close to reaching a grand bargain on taxes, spending and entitlements during the summer of 2011. They failed to reach a more modest bargain last month. But the outline of an agreement was laid out two years ago by the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, a commission appointed by President Obama.

“We must make the hard choices to reduce the cost of health care and the size of our deficit,” the president said Monday. He has talked before about the need to makes these hard choices. With the potential that a protracted battle over the debt ceiling could further harm the nation’s credit rating and that the postponed sequestration cuts could hurt the economic recovery, at least some of those choices need to be made in the coming weeks.

That can only happen if leaders place the national interest over partisan interest.

The public is deeply cynical about national politics — and for good reason. Even small victories, even minor agreements, would go a long way toward restoring faith in the idea that “we the people” still matter. At this new beginning of the political cycle, after yesterday’s celebration of democracy, Democratic and Republican leaders on Capitol Hill need to join with the president in meeting the requirement to act on the nation’s most pressing issues.